Is Money the Only Motivation for Workers?

The level of motivation varies on how far individuals are able to push themselves in order to achieve a task. Number of factors could motivate people: The job could be challenging and interesting even though there isn’t enough pay, individuals can still be motivated. This essay will argue whether “money is the only motivation for all employees as believed by managers”. We have different sorts of theories; scientific Management claims that in order to motivate individuals money has to be included. There are two types of theories: Needs based theory assumes that people are only motivated by their personal needs and Process theory argues that it is not about the need, it’s about the goals. Needs based theory: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, according to this theory there are five sets of goals which may be called basic need. Hygiene factors: salary, interpersonal relationships, working conditions, style of leadership and types of supervision, security, type of work, working hours and status. In a management context, it means that hygiene factors don’t motivate individuals to do their vey best but they are needed to stop people becoming dissatisfied with their jobs. Motivation factors: these are factors within a job which allow for such things as achievement, responsibility, recognition, advancement and challenge. He suggests that these are the factors which encourage people to strive to do well. Herzberg argues that hygiene and maintenance factors does not motivate people but however if it is absent it will demotivate individuals. One limitation of this theory is that job satisfaction does not necessarily imply a high level of motivation or productivity. “Kiyoshi Takahashi (2006) study shows that Japanese workers tend to be more motivated by promotion opportunities than by wage increases.” This shows that individuals cannot be motivated by the same thing especially those from different countries as they have different needs.